Why Am I Stressed? | Brad Straarup

If you're in this room and you are overwhelmed, if you feel like the world is crashing in on you and you feel like you don't quite have what it takes, I need to let you know that I understand.

Like I remember when we first launched the church, um, a couple months into the church, we had some stuff happen with some team members, and I remember getting to a place where it felt really fragile.

And I was like, man, I don't know if this is gonna work.

And I remember being so stressed out, and I was like, are we even gonna have church on Sunday?

Like, are we even gonna be able to make this happen?

And I was like, what will people think?

What will people think if this failed?

What will people what will my friends think?

What will my family think?

I just sold everything, I moved everything here to plant this church because I felt like God told me to do it.

What if this fails?

But not only what does my family think, but what do my friends think?

All the friends that moved with us to say, man, we believe that God is calling you to do something.

And not only that, but what would that tell me about what I believed about God and my ability to hear from God?

I remember feeling so stressed about the entire situation that I did something that I've like never done before and kind of haven't done since.

It was like four o'clock in the afternoon, and I went into my bedroom, I got into bed, and I cried myself to sleep.

And I was like, I'm done.

I'm like, this is over.

I'm like, what is gonna happen?

Never done it before, but I just need to ask this.

Has anyone ever been in a place where you feel so much stress that you just don't know what to do?

That you're like, man, it feels like the world is crumbling in, and I feel like I can't take the pressure and I don't know what to do.

And I think if we're honest with ourselves, all of us have felt that.

Like you walk up to people and you say, How are you?

Right?

And what do they say?

Fine, good.

But if they're honest, you'll hear this other thing.

How are you?

They'll often say, I'm tired.

I'm tired.

And I think underneath that it's not only I'm tired, but I'm stressed, I'm worried.

I feel like I don't have what I need to get through what is on me right now.

And today I want to talk about this.

I want to talk about how to deal with the stress that exists in our lives.

And in order for us to be able to deal with it, we actually have to understand it because stress and anxiety are different.

Okay, next week I'm gonna be talking about anxiety.

That's a great time for you to invite someone who is far from God, it's gonna help them.

But stress and anxiety are different.

Why?

Because they come from different origins, origins.

Anxiety is a pressure that comes from within you.

Stress is a pressure that comes from outside of you.

It's the one that comes from outside of you that you're like, man, I don't even know if I have what it takes.

And we all know the things that make us stress.

There's the major things like money and work and family, but then add in the economy, inflation, inflation, cost of living is going up, moral decline, the lack of safety, the wild waste of social media, and all of a sudden you have this deadly cocktail of stress.

And I know so many people are here and they're like, Brad, help the stress go away.

Well, I've got some bad news.

I can't make all the stress go away.

I can't.

You're like, Brad, make it all go away.

I can't.

Jesus literally says this John 16, 33.

He says, In this world, you will have trouble.

You will have pressure.

Brad, I don't like the sermon.

Can you be more positive?

Absolutely.

I am positive that in this world you will have trouble.

You will have pressure.

But he says this: take heart, for I have overcome the world.

He never promises that the stress will go away, but he does promise that he'll give you the strength to stand underneath it.

He gives you the strength to stand.

So I want to help you not get rid of all of it, but get rid of some of it.

And to start, we need to come up with a definition that we're all on the same page.

Here's the definition of stress.

In physics, stress is when a physical force is placed on an object to such a degree that the object begins to break.

So there's a physical force that's placed on an object, and then that object begins to break.

I have a formula for you guys that you can understand stress.

Here's what it is when pressure is greater than your capacity to withhold it, you feel stress.

When the pressure of something is greater than the capacity of that thing to withstand it, you start feeling stressed.

It's almost like uh this coke can.

How many of you like coke in this place?

I got a coke here.

This is nectar of the gods.

This this is God's gift to humans.

I believe it.

It's zero calories and it is fantastic, okay?

I I gotta drink this right before I came on stage, and that just made my day.

Like I'm just out here having a good old time.

Like I'm having so much fun.

But up here, I have a Coke can, an empty Coke can.

And what were to happen if I were to start placing pressure on this?

If the pressure on the outside is greater than the pressure and the capacity from the inside, what happens?

And for some of us, this is what our life looks like.

We were facing so much pressure that we get to this place that we're like, man, I don't quite know how to solve that.

I don't quite know what I need to do.

I'm crushed from every side.

The world feels like it's getting smaller and smaller, and I don't know how to breathe.

And I want to help you overcome that thing.

But before we do, let me give you some theology about stress before we get practical.

Because there's some things you need to understand.

Because a lot of us we have immense guilt when it comes to stress.

The first thing I need you to understand is this stress is a signal, not a sin.

Stress is a signal, not a sin.

I need to remove some condemnation from some of y'all.

Because some of y'all are stressed about the fact that you are stressed.

You're like, I should not be stressed.

Like, this is the sin, I should not feel this way.

And you're like, I'm stressed about the fact that I feel stressed.

Stress is not a sin.

Okay.

Bram.

How do you know?

Because Paul felt stressed.

Second Corinthians 11 24, it says this five different times the Jewish leaders gave me 39 lashes.

That is a bad day.

Three times I was beaten with rods.

One time I was stoned, and people are like, Man, at least he had some relief.

No, not with medicine, with rocks.

He was stoned with rocks.

He was not like this, it was not stoned.

He was not like, okay, I'm good, I'm stoned.

Woo! No, he got stoned.

Got stoned with rocks.

Man, some of that that went right over y'all's head.

That's awesome.

I love that.

I've got a holy church here.

Three times I was shipwrecked.

Once I spent a whole night and day adrift at sea.

Watch this.

Verse 28.

Besides everything else, I feel daily pressure.

There's our word of my concern for churches.

Who is weak and I do not feel weak?

Who is led into sin and I do not inwardly burn?

What he's saying is when the church struggles, I struggle.

When people feel pain, I feel pain.

Here you have the Apostle Paul, one of the greatest followers of Christ to ever live, and then he feels pressure.

Not only did he feel pressure, Jesus himself felt pressure, felt stress.

Mark 14, 34, Jesus is in the garden and he says this my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

I don't know about y'all, but that sounds like a bad day.

My soul is overwhelmed to the point of death.

It is not a sin because Jesus has never sinned, and if he felt pressure, if he felt stress, then you're gonna feel it too.

But here's what you need to know: stress is a signal, it's not a sin.

So what is it signaling?

It's signaling that something is wrong.

How many of you guys have ever driven and your check engine light goes on?

I I severely dislike my check engine light.

I'm like, why do you come?

It comes on and it's like, hey, something's wrong.

And I'm like, great, what?

You knew enough to tell me something's wrong.

But can you tell me what's wrong?

Like, is it my oil?

Is it my transmission?

It's like, nope, we're gonna play a game, you're gonna have to figure that out by yourself.

I'm like, would you just tell me?

It doesn't tell you what's wrong, it just tells you something's wrong.

And then you need to do what?

Go for an inspection.

Stress is the same way.

When you're feeling stressed, it doesn't always mean that you know exactly what it is, but when you start feeling it, your body is saying, Hey, something's wrong.

And you need to do an audit.

What is it in my life that is causing me to be stressed?

It doesn't mean you're failing spiritually, but it is a sign that something has to shift in your life, and if you ignore it long enough, just like a check engine light, there is a crash in your future.

So there's a couple things that it's signaling that I want you to understand.

The first thing is this it may be signaling that you're carrying something that is not yours.

Most stress comes from carrying something that is not ours.

In the Old Testament, you see Moses.

Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt, and they are now in the wilderness.

There's three to four million of them.

That's like half a phoenix.

And Moses sets himself up as the lone judge over all of them.

So everybody fighting, everyone doing the thing.

And Moses is like, I'm gonna be the one to judge this.

So he has this line of everyone trying to hear, trying to trying to present their case, and then his father-in-law comes and gives him some really good advice.

How many of you know sometimes fathers-in-laws can give some pretty good advice?

He comes in verse 17 and he says this what you're doing is not good.

And some of y'all, I need to tell you today, what you're doing is not good.

And if you've always done what you've always done, you're always gonna get what you've always got.

He says, What you're doing is not good.

He says, You and these people will who come to you will only wear yourselves out.

The work is too heavy for you, you cannot handle it alone.

He says, It is impossible for you to govern, to lead, to pastor, to shepherd all these people.

He says, You need a team, you need a dream team.

Come on, I'm still grateful for the dream team.

We don't do this by ourselves, we don't do this by ourselves.

Moses was trying to carry something that he in himself was unable to carry by himself.

So often, the reason you're stressed is you are trying to carry something by yourself that you were never meant to carry.

So we're carrying all these kinds of things.

Okay, let me give you some things that you are carrying that you might not need to carry.

This is not the moment for you to elbow your neighbor and be like, he's talking to you, love.

You need to listen to me.

Each one of these things has a temptation.

One of the things that we try to control, we try to control the future.

Y'all are already looking at each other.

I can see y'all like it's for you, it's for you.

The temptation here is to be all-knowing, to be certain.

Will it work out?

What if it doesn't work out?

Will I find someone?

What if I don't find someone?

What what if my kids aren't safe?

And we have all of these intrusive thoughts after thoughts after thoughts.

And the reality is when you're trying to control the future, it means that you lack trust in God.

Because the Bible says this, Matthew 6 34.

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough troubles.

Can I get an amen?

There's already enough to worry just about today, but we try to control the future.

Not only that, we try to control the outcome.

If I just work hard, if I just do all of this, if I burn the candle at both ends, I will finally succeed.

But watch this Psalm 127, verse 1 says this unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

Psalms 127:1

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the gods stand watch in vain.

In other words, unless God is on your side, no matter what you do, you're not going to succeed unless He's with you.

It says, in vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat, for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Does that mean I don't need to work?

No, the Bible says that whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might.

But what it is saying is this your job is obedience and his job is outcome.

So stop trying to control something that only God Himself is to control.

We try to control the future, we try to control outcomes.

The other thing we try to control, and this is my favorite one, is we try to control other people.

We're all trying to control everyone, we're trying to be everything to everyone.

We try to control their behavior.

If I just do this, they'll change.

Someone once told me this and it set me free.

They said, Brad, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make a horse drink.

Amen.

And some of us, the problem, the reason we're stressed is we're trying to make that horse drink.

We're like, do it, do it.

You're like, your kid is just frustrating.

And you're like, no, just listen to me.

I'm gonna make you do it.

You're trying to control what someone else can do.

No, Romans 12, verse 18 says this as far as it depends on you.

Romans 12:18

In other words, there's a limit.

As much as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

You cannot make them forgive you.

You can't make them change, you can't make them love, but you can choose to live at peace.

We try to control people's behaviors, we try to control not only that, their expectations.

This is called people pleasing.

The reason sometimes we're so stressed is we're saying yes to so much because we're trying to please everyone around us, and God never called us to do that.

Galatians 1 verse 10.

Galatians 1:10

Is this helping anyone?

Galatians 1 verse 10 says this.

Galatians 1:10

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God?

Or am I trying to please people?

If I still were trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

If your mission is to please people, you will never be able to please God in the way that you need to.

There will always be expectations.

Proverbs 29, 25 says, This fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

This can got a new one.

Praise the Lord.

See that?

This can was designed to withstand the pressure of 12 ounces.

It was not designed to withstand the pressure of an entire ocean.

Some of us, the reason we're stressed is because we are taking on everyone else's pressure.

Like, you give me your pressure, you give me your pressure, you give me your pressure.

And then we wonder why we are so stressed.

Some of us, you're carrying someone else's load, and you're enabling them, and you need to allow them to carry their own load.

And you're all like, Brad, I don't know about that.

Because I know what the Bible says.

I need to say yes to everyone and help everyone, because Galatians 6 verse 2 says, carry each other's burdens, and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

So I'm supposed to carry everyone's burdens around me.

That's why I carry my mom's burden and my brother's burden and my son's burden and my daughter's burden.

Yeah, but keep reading, because verse 5 says this for each one should carry their own load.

Principle.

Help people carry what is weighing them down without taking ownership of what God has called them to carry.

Sometimes we're like, God, why do you hate me?

And he's like, No, you did that to yourself.

You picked up all of that yourself.

I once heard a story from Henry Cloud, Dr.

Henry Cloud, he wrote a book called Boundaries that I think is one of one of my favorite books.

And he has this family that comes into his counseling center, and as they walk in, the dad, whole family's there.

The dad is like, I need your help.

And he's like, Why do you need my help?

And he says, I have a problem, child.

And he says, Tell me about this child.

And he says, He's not here.

And he's like, Okay, but the entire family is here, but he's not here.

And Dr.

Cloud is like, Great, where is he?

And he says, he's skiing in Colorado.

And he says, but he's the problem.

And Dr.

Cloud is like, that's crazy.

He's like, wait, wait, who's paying for him to ski?

And the dad said, I am.

And he said, I think you're wrong.

I don't think your son has a problem.

I think you do.

And he's like, What do you mean?

No, he's my problem child.

And he says, No, no, no, because you have taken all of his problems and put them on yourself.

Your son doesn't have a problem, you do.

And he says, Would you like my help?

To help your son have some problems.

And he said, Cut him off.

And you'll have some problems.

And then all of a sudden you're gonna see change happen.

You also often the reason we feel so much pressure is because we're trying to carry things that God never called us to carry by ourselves.

We try to be all-knowing, all-powerful, and all things to everyone.

And if that sounds familiar, it is.

Genesis 3.

The original sin, Satan says this eat from this fruit and you will be like God.

Only God is all-knowing, only God is all-powerful, only God is all things to everyone.

The first stress in the Bible was the fact that we were trying to be something that God never called us to be.

And I just feel like someone needs to know that God called and He's like, give me my work back.

You weren't supposed to be God.

Sometimes the reason we feel stressed is because we carry something that isn't ours.

Sometimes the reason we feel stressed is because we carry the right thing in the wrong way.

You carry the right thing in the wrong way.

God doesn't always remove the load, but He does change how it's carried.

For example, right over here, I've got a bag of tricks today, I've got a dumbbell.

This is a 15-pound dumbbell.

Okay?

Now, some of you, the problem is you're carrying a weight that God never called you to carry.

And you're like, why do I feel so tired?

It was never your weight to carry.

But some of you, the weight that you're carrying is actually right.

You should be carrying it, but you're carrying it the wrong way.

For example, I can take this 15-pound dumbbell and I can carry it like this for some time.

But how many of you know that if I try to do this for any longer, my arm is gonna fall off?

It's the right weight, but I'm carrying it wrong.

Can you see my face stressing?

Sometimes I talk to you, and this is what we look like.

How are you doing?

Best and highly favored.

Tell me about God.

Faithful! Oh, he's faithful! Lord, he's faithful.

I'm just suffering for the kingdom.

He didn't call you to carry it that way.

We get so mad at God, but God never told us to do that.

You're carrying the right way, but sometimes you're carrying it the wrong way.

You need to know this, he doesn't always remove the load.

With Moses, people still had to be cared for, people still had to have problems, people still needed their disputes myth, but he didn't remove the load.

He gave them a strategy.

Okay?

The economy is gonna be the economy.

The pressure is not gonna always go away.

The world is gonna keep worlding.

It's gonna keep happening.

But God gives them a strategy.

Jethro comes up to him and he says this listen, here's what you need to do, verse 19.

Teach people God's laws, teach them their decrees.

But then he says this, verse 21 but select capable men from all the people who fear God, who are trustworthy, and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

Let them serve as judges and let them only bring the difficult cases to you, the simple cases they can decide.

They will make your load lighter because they will share it with you.

I'm praying that God is going to give some of you the strategy on how to lighten the load.

And he says this, verse 23.

If you do this, say if.

That's the challenge, is so often we don't do it.

He says, if you do this, God will direct you and you will be able to endure and you will be in a place of peace.

Let me show you one from the New Testament, Matthew 11, 28.

Jesus says this, Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Doesn't that sound awesome?

How many of you just want some rest?

You're like, God, Jesus, I want some rest.

Come to me, all of you who are weak and burdened, and I will give you rest.

And when you look at that, you're like, I wonder what he's gonna say next.

Because I have a hammock.

I got a bed.

You're gonna take a good old nap.

He says, No, come to me, all of you who are weak and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Watch the next verse.

Says this, take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

In other words, he says, I'm gonna give you rest.

The way I'm gonna give you rest is I'm gonna make you work.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

So he's saying, if we do what he is calling us to do, we'll be able to enter into a place of rest.

Now, a lot of times people don't even know what a yoke is.

Let me show you a picture of a yoke.

This is a yoke.

A yoke would connect two oxen and they would plow a ground together.

Jesus is on one side and he's saying, Come, be yoked with me.

And he says, We're gonna walk in the same way together, and I'm gonna teach you how to walk with me.

That's what he's saying.

But also in the old times, when they were talking about a yoke, it actually represented someone's teaching.

So when he says, Take my yoke upon you, what he's actually saying is, take my teaching upon you.

In other words, stop doing it your way and do it mine.

The reason so often that we start feeling stressed is we're not actually being yoked with Jesus and following what he calls us to do.

Because he gives us a prescription for how we are to be in our relationships, but we're like, nope, I like walking in unforgiveness, and then we wonder why we're stressed.

Jesus has principles regarding debt, but we're like, nope, I'm gonna buy a whole bunch of things that I don't need to impress people I don't even like.

Because that person at the traffic light, he needs to see that I drive a really nice car.

So we get into debt like we're not supposed to get into debt, and then we're stressed.

Why are we stressed?

It's because in that moment we did not follow what God calls us to do.

Most of the stress is self-induced, most of it.

And it's because we're not actually following what Jesus has called us to do.

We're saying, I'm gonna do it my way.

But we have to do it his way.

What area in your life are you not following the way of God?

Because let me tell you, he speaks to every single area.

Find me a place that you're not following Jesus, and I'll find you a place that you're stressed.

Because Jesus is walking in this way, and you're like, But I want to go this way.

And you're trying to fight against him, and he's stronger than you because he's Jesus, and Jesus is stronger than you, and you're like, why can't I do that?

It's because he's stronger.

So sometimes we're carrying things that God never called us to carry.

Other times we're carrying something and we're carrying the right thing, but we're carrying it in the wrong way, just like Moses did.

So here's two things that I want you to be able to do.

How are we gonna deal with stress?

We're gonna go back to our equation.

Pressure, when pressure is greater than your capacity, what happens?

You feel stressed.

So there are two ways for you to actually biblically overcome stress.

You either have to decrease the pressure or you have to increase your capacity.

And most of the time it's both.

If you decrease the pressure, you might have the capacity to withstand.

Or if you increase the pressure, then you can have the capacity.

Because over here, I have a full coke can.

It is pressurized.

Okay?

It has got bubbly water.

I don't know why I can't think of what the name is of that thing.

It has got carbonated water in this thing.

That is, there we go, I got it.

And and it's pushing against the case.

So there's so much capacity within this thing that if I take external pressure and And I start doing this.

I can't make it blow.

I can't make it burst.

Why?

The capacity with inside is greater than the pressure that I'm exerting on it.

If you want to deal with stress, you have to do one of two things.

Let me help you with the first thing.

First thing is this: you have to decrease the pressure.

Say, decrease the pressure.

Turn to your neighbor and say, You've got to decrease that pressure.

You gotta decrease the pressure.

You gotta decrease the weight.

There's a couple ways you can do it.

One of the ways you can decrease the pressure is you can stop people pleasing.

I call this the main hero energy.

Like I'm the main hero in my life.

If I don't do it, it won't get done.

If I don't do it, it won't get done.

If I don't answer, it will all fall apart.

It has to be me.

You are not the messiah.

Jesus is the messiah.

You are not Jesus.

You call out Jesus, Jesus.

Even Jesus didn't try to people please.

Why do we Mark 132?

That evening after sunset, the people brought to Jesus all that were sick and demon-possessed.

The whole town gathered.

The whole town.

That's the whole town.

That's a lot of people.

The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus killed many of them of various diseases and he drove out demons.

The whole town gathered, and then he would retreat very very early in the next morning while it was still dark.

Jesus got up, he left the house, he went to a solitary place where he prayed.

Simon and his companions went to look for him.

And when they found him, they exclaimed, Everyone is looking for you.

And Jesus was like, Oh my gosh, the whole town is looking for me.

Of course.

I'm here to serve people.

Let's go back.

No, here's what he said.

Verse 38.

Jesus replied, Let's go somewhere else.

Jesus, everyone's looking for you.

Awesome.

Let's leave.

They really want you to reply to that calendar invitation.

You better say yes.

Great.

Let's say no.

The school really wants you to help with that banquet, but you're really overstressed and you really feel like you don't have time to spend with your kids.

You should say yes.

How about no?

Jesus didn't respond to pressure, he responded to purpose.

Jesus replied, let's go somewhere else to the nearby villages so I can preach there also.

That is why I've come.

We can decrease the pressure when we stop trying to, people please.

Another way you can decrease the pressure is when you watch your calendar.

Because most of us we say yes to far too much in our life.

Okay?

Some of us we struggle to say no.

And your version of no is let me check the calendar, which is actually just a yes, it's just slower.

Let me check the calendar.

You're gonna say yes.

But every yes is actually a no to something else.

And I think sometimes we don't see that because we say yes to that thing, but we realize that what we don't realize is by saying yes to that thing, we're saying no to something else.

If I said yes to every single coffee invitation, every single dinner, every single event, every single function, I am saying no to my kids.

And sometimes we're not careful with our yes.

And we say yes to everything that's urgent and we start neglecting the things that are important.

Philippians 1 verse 9.

Philippians 1:9

And this is my prayer that your love may abound more and your knowledge of Him will increase.

Why would my love want to abound?

Here's why.

So that you may be able to discern what is best, say best.

Discern what is best.

Paul isn't saying you need to pick right from wrong.

He's saying no.

I'm praying that you have the wisdom to pick what is excellent, the things that really matter, not right from wrong, but the things that really are valuable to God.

So we say no to things that we can say yes to the things of God.

Going to church, reading my Bible, being in a group.

That we can have community.

You have to say no to the wrong things, that you can say yes to the right thing.

Another place that we can decrease the stress is actually our finances because a lot of times the stress that we feel is because we signed up for it.

Not always, but sometimes we get into debt, credit cards, all these kinds of things.

Like I said, to try to impress people that we don't even like.

But Solomon, who was the richest person on earth, listen to this wisdom literature, Ecclesiastes 4, verse 6 says this better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:6

In other words, it is better to have less but be at peace than to try and grab everything and have toil.

Some of us, we have better cars, we have nicer houses, we have all these kinds of things, but we don't sleep.

And that's not peace.

We're trying to chase after everything.

The same route.

I want you to notice this.

How do we decrease the pressure?

The same route as we need to learn to say no.

Say no.

Oof, didn't that feel good?

I need to give you all another chance to say, say no.

No.

No is a complete sentence.

No, period.

So this my kid comes to me and he's like, Dad, can I do this?

And I'm like, no.

And he like waits for a reason, and I'm like, I don't gotta give you a reason.

No.

Most of the time we actually don't know how to say no.

And it's because you're trying to please people.

And some of you are like, Brad, okay, I can't say no though because I didn't choose to lose my job.

I can't decrease the pressure in that area.

What do I do?

Great, you have to increase your capacity.

Turn to your neighbor, say, increase your capacity.

How do we do that?

You increase your capacity.

Here's a couple of ways.

When you tend to your body, when you allow your body and mind to recover.

Some of you, the issue is that you do not have any recovery time.

Like I'm reminded of Elijah.

Elijah, in one point, he has this incredible battle with the prophets of Baal, and he wins, and God shows up, and it's miraculous and it's amazing.

And then there's this girl by the name of Jezebel who makes a threat against his life.

Just a threat, not even action, just a threat.

And he runs.

Watch this.

He gets to this place, 1 Kings 19:4.

1 Kings 19:4

It says that he came to a broom bush, he sat down under it and prayed that he might die.

I've had enough, Lord.

Take my life.

So he's worried that someone's gonna kill him.

So he runs away and then asks God to kill him.

Help it make sense.

Some of you though, you feel that way.

Like God, I'm done.

Take my life.

I'm actually done.

I don't know how I can do this.

And I love God's prescription because God says, I need you to just read my word.

I need you to pray.

No, no, no, watch this, watch this, watch this.

This is what it says.

He said, Take my life, verse five.

Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep, and an angel touched him and said, Get up and eat.

He ate and drank and then lay down again.

And then an angel came a second time, verse 7, get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.

Eventually God speaks to him, but before God speaks to him, he gives him a nap.

Some of y'all, the most spiritual thing that you can do tonight is go and sleep for the glory of God.

Some of you are trying to pray your way out of something that a nap would fix.

I'm serious.

Burning the candle at both ends.

Jesus does the same thing, Mark 6.31.

Because so many people were coming to him that they did not have a chance to eat, he said, Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.

What's the principle here?

Rest, Sabbath.

We preached about that at the beginning of the year.

You need to take a Sabbath.

Have two lists: the things I do on my Sabbath and the things I don't do on my Sabbath.

Things I do not do on my Sabbath, I do not check emails.

I do not check texts.

Okay, if you try to reach me, well, we're Sabbath.

I'm sorry, you will not reach me.

Okay?

But what are the things that actually rejuvenate you?

Spending time with my wife, spending time with my kids, you need to have two lists.

And you actually need to become, you need to have a rhythm for rest.

This is why you go on vacation and you come back and you feel just as tired.

Because you came back to you.

You came back to the same version of yourself that left.

The version that was stressed.

And the problem is some of us we're trying to escape, we're trying to rescue something that God calls us to have a rhythm for.

Sabbath is a weekly rhythm of rest.

And we're trying to escape, and then we're wondering why we don't feel it's because we don't have the principles that God has actually called us to have.

Build a rhythm, not a rescue.

Can I get an amen?

Build a rhythm, not a rescue.

You have to tend your body.

The second way you build capacity is you get around the right people.

The right people will, the wrong people will drain your life, but the right people will fill your life.

Ecclesiastes 4 9.

Two are better than one because they have a good return for the labor.

If one of them falls down, the other can help them up.

But I pity a man who falls and has no one to help them up.

That's why we do groups here.

I could tell you story after story of people in our church that have fallen down and they were in a group, and the second they fell down, someone was able to help them up.

Medically, financially, emotionally, mentally.

If any one of them falls, they have someone else to help them up.

But I pity the person who falls and has no one to help them up.

Brad, I don't have time for community.

Then we need to say no to things that are distracting us, that we can say yes to the things that God calls us to.

The final way that you can increase your capacity is you have to know who you are.

You have to know who you are.

That can will be stressed if its entire life it thinks it's a microphone.

Some of you, the reason that you're so stressed is because you're trying to become something that God never called you to become.

The Bible.

It says it's Galatians 6 verse 4, it says each one should test their own actions.

Galatians 6:4

Then they will take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.

That's why we talk about growth tracks so much.

We're like, hey, I need you to go to the growth track.

It's happening right after the service.

Why?

I need you to start understanding the way that God has wired you, that you can say yes to the things that you need to say yes to and no to the things that you're not supposed to say yes to.

Does that make sense?

You need to know what you're called.

I know what I'm called to.

God has made that so clear to me, and it makes it so easy for me to say no to everything else.

Even for me, there's times that people come and they're like, hey, can you come speak at this place and this place and this place and this place and this place?

I know that God has called me to be a local pastor.

That I'm like, no, I want to be with my church.

Where are you gonna be on Sunday?

Here.

People are like, I'm gonna come visit you in Phoenix.

Are you gonna be here this weekend?

Yes.

They're like, you didn't even check your calendar.

It's Sunday.

I'm gonna be here.

Does that make sense?

I know what God has called me to do.

Does that mean that we're never gonna be and take a vacation?

No, no, no, of course we will.

But I know where I'm supposed to be.

So my question is this for you where do you need to increase?

Or do you need to decrease?

Because most of the stress that we have in our lives, like I said, is we are living a way that God has not called us to live.

So you need to ask yourself that question.

I wrote this down.

Most of the stress in life actually comes from ignoring God's principles.

And when your life comes into alignment with him, when he becomes Lord of your life, what you're gonna see is that you're gonna start experiencing the freedom that only he can give.

When he becomes your Lord, what does that mean?

When Jesus is your Lord, it means that you do everything that he tells you to do.

But I don't like it.

You're not supposed to, it doesn't matter.

I don't always understand why God says things, but then when I start walking through it, I start understanding.

His wisdom is beyond my own.

We need to walk with Jesus, we need to make Jesus Lord.

What's what happens when you do?

Psalm 4 verse 8.

Psalms 4:8

In peace I lie down and sleep.

For you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 29, 11.

The Lord gives strength to his people, the Lord blesses them with peace.

When you make him your Lord, when you put him first, everything begins to change.

He will lighten what's on you and he will fill what's in you.

Lost verse Matthew 6, 33, it says this, but seek first, say first.

First his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

What would it look like if you truly put Jesus first?

First in your week?

You're already doing that.

You made it to church.

Praise God.

What about first in your day?

What about first in your family?

What about first in your work?

What about first in your finances?

What about first in your emotions?

What about first in your thoughts?

Let me say that if you put Jesus first, you're gonna see everything starts to change.

Where are the areas that we're trying to jump off?

And Jesus is saying, nope, you're yoked with me, we're going this way.

Because there's only two things we can do.

The pressure, all the pressure is not going away.

But we can use wisdom and say, God, help me decrease and help me increase.

Fill me with your spirit.

Does that make sense?

Can I pray for you?

Lord God, I want to thank you for every single person that's here.

God, I know all the reasons that we feel stressed, but God, I pray that you'll give us the wisdom and insight and discernment, just like you did with Moses, that you'll teach them, Lord, what it is that we need to do.

And God, I pray more than anything that we'll come to a place where we can put you first.

We thank you, Lord, for what you're doing.

Some of you are in this room while everyone continues praying.

And a place that you haven't put Jesus first is he's not Lord of your life yet.

You're not actually following him.

You haven't put him first in that way.

And if that's you, we want to give you an opportunity to put him first.

And you know that you might be far from God.

Your heart may be beating right now.

And you're like, man, I know I've run away from God.

And if that's you and you want to come home to him, we want to give you that opportunity.

So we're gonna pray a prayer, and I just want you to pray this in your heart.

Just pray this off to me.

Say, Dear Jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

I believe you came to this earth, you died on a cross, and you were raised.

That I can have life.

I make you my Lord.

I make you my savior.

In Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name, with every head bowed and eyes closed, if you're here today and you just made that decision for the first time, I would love to celebrate with you.

What I'm gonna do is count to three, and I just want you to wave and say, Brad, that's me.

No one's looking around.

Here we go.

One, two, three.

Lift up your hand if that was you.

That's awesome.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir.

I love that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I love that.

Hey, church, do me a favor, put your hands together.

Come on for everyone who just said that.

We love you, church.

And hey, if you just said yes to Jesus, I want to be the first to tell you that this is the best decision you could ever make.

Congratulations! And we do have a next step for you.

We would love for you to let us know and text the keyword Jesus to 480-485-3405.

Because we want to send you a devotional called You Said Yes.

It's a 21-day devotional that we'd love to get in your hands so that you don't have to walk this journey with Jesus alone.

And hey, if this ministry has meant anything to you, has impacted you, we would love for you to pray about two things.

First, I'd love for you to pray about sharing this message.

And you never know how much a simple share could impact someone's life.

And the second, we'd love for you to pray about partnering with us financially because your giving enables us to get this message not only in your hands, but into the hands of people all around the world.

And so thank you for the way that you give.

And if you want to do that today, you can go to spiritchurch.co forward slash give.

Well, we love you, church, and we will see you right back here next week.

And remember that with God, there is more.